Pricey Schools Prepare for Problems

Downturn dropouts?

The city’s private schools are starting to feel the effects of the recession. “The ground is shifting; some people are relocating,” says Victoria Goldman, who wrote The Manhattan Family Guide to Private Schools. A source close to Trinity says 45 families have already given notice that their kids won’t return next year, and some parents who previously paid in full are now seeking financial aid. (Trinity officials wouldn’t return calls for comment.) Horace Mann is getting financial-aid inquiries, too. “We are committed to our students and families through the year,” says school official Bernice Hauser. “If anyone is in crisis, they are free to speak to someone here.” A top administrator at another school worries about what happens when semiannual bills come in February. And then there’s next year. “The hardest thing,” says Goldman, “will be for admissions directors to figure out which new applicants will be able to stay the course.”